Comments From Celebrities On Ian Hendry
Sourced from around the net (and also in print), we bring you comments from celebrities on the work of Ian Hendry:
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“I think he was the first student I had ever seen whom I believed had been born an actor.
He was wonderful at light comedy, and we all looked up to him and admired him enormously”
Dame Judi Dench
I too rate Michael’s work highly and of course after The Lotus Eaters 1972/73 we became great friends.
Michael and Ian (Hendry) were both very underrated. Their talent will be missed. Ian should have been an International star – and Michael was full of original ideas, which were never commissioned. He had some wonderful stories to tell and masses of ideas – The Lotus Eaters could have gone on for some considerablle time had it not been for Ian Hendry’s health.”
Wanda Ventham
(Ann Shepherd – The Lotus Eaters)
From Michael J Bird Tribute Website
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“Gabriel Hershman’s book, Send in the Clowns: The Yo Yo Life of Ian Hendry, is valuable not only for its timely championing of Ian’s unique talent, but also for its vivid recreation of that whole era in British film and television history. It took me down the memory lane of my own beginnings, when I had the pleasure of working with Ian twice. The 60s and 70s were exciting decades when all the very best writers were writing for television, and gritty film classics were being created.
Gabriel’s sympathetic character study of Ian’s life is heart-breaking in its honesty about the terrible price Ian paid for his compulsive drinking. It is a tragedy that a man who was so generous to others could be his own worst enemy. But through it all, the integrity and brilliance of Ian’s work shines through, and this book is a worthy tribute to an actor who had become in danger of being underestimated. I was glad to have this opportunity to get to know Ian Hendry better, and to appreciate him all over again.”
Elizabeth Shepherd
From an email to Gabriel Hershman, author of the biography, “Send In The Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’
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